Isabeau de Bavière, le don et la politique de mécénat

Abstract

In contrast with the great princes of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century like Philip of Burgundy and Jean of Berry who are renowned as patrons of the arts, Queen of France Isabeau of Bavaria has often been dismissed as a frivolous and avaricious collector of jewels. This essay suggests that, far from being motivated by greed, Isabeau’s patronage of gold work (orfevrerie) must be regarded as above all political. Forced by the intermittent insanity of Charles VI from 1392 on to assume an important role in the government when the king was indisposed, she sought to reinforce her political influence by amassing a treasury that would allow her to participate in the circulation of gifts, a practice central to the exercise of political power at the Valois court.